Scorched earth of the Hmong heals with the balm
of new growth (above). A rugged and independent
people, about 350,000 of them make up roughly 10
percent of Laos's population. They traditionally
settle near the summits to grow corn, rice, and opium
poppies. Crops are fertilized by the ashes of trees
felled and burned to clear the forest, but monsoon
rains soon leach the thin soil. The Hmong must con
tinually relocate their villages.
Now bomb craters also scar the land (right fore
ground), pitting the ridge below a Hmong outpost.
As war swept their homeland, nearly a third of the
Hmong found themselves in Communist-controlled
areas. Many sought refuge in the lowland territory of
the ethnic Lao, who scorn them as "primitive." Yet
in this prejudice lurks a measure of uneasiness, for
the Hmong prize hard work and ambition-the
sinews of political success.
Piping the day's finale, a Hmong plays his home
crafted khene above the village of Teu La-a moment
of peace in a war-ravaged life.